WHOLENESS - Mar 2010
When I put my application for seminary in the mail box, I felt like I was asking for an answer about the purpose of my life.
I had recently come to hear my “call” to professional ministry. I was confident I was hearing the call accurately; “I am going to be a Unitarian Universalist Minister.” It wasn’t “I think I’ll be,” or “I want to be.” It was “I am going to be.”
The source of this “call,” something I liken to a strong inner voice, was not important, and frankly never has been. But I did want at least one formal external affirmation of this call. My friends and family had all said, upon hearing my declaration, “It’s about time you realized it.” I guess I had not been listening very well.
But I wanted someone who didn’t know me to say, “Yes, you can be a UU minister.” And that someone or external affirmation was Starr King School for the Ministry in Berkeley, California. It is one of two UU seminaries, and the only seminary I applied to. I did have a choice, after all. There was a perfectly good Methodist seminary a few miles from my house. I wouldn’t even have to move. But I wanted Starr King’s affirmation. The rest of the process of becoming a UU minister had faded into the background. There was graduating, internship, hospital chaplaincy training, and the really important formal interview with the UUA’s credentialing body, the Fellowship Committee. None of that mattered. If Starr King accepted me, then I knew for sure, I was on the right path, finally!!!
I had a wandering career up to that point. At the time I was lamely pursuing a career in environmental journalism. That had been my fall-back if nothing better came along. I loved to write and cared about the environment, so that seemed a good combination. But my “call” to ministry was clear and provided a sense of wholeness for me. The day I received my acceptance letter from Starr King (I didn’t have to wait long), I did indeed feel whole. I felt like everything I had done in my life up to that point had led to this momentous decision.
Now as I experience my fourteenth year of ministry, I still feel whole. I recognize all the things I had done before becoming a minister hold equal value as my ministry, consistent with my message on March 7. I feel great every time I pull something from one of my previous incarnations (although I haven’t pulled from my talent as a parking lot attendant yet).
I can’t help but wonder at my all too human need to find meaning in my life -- from looking for patterns in my choices, to my persistent yearnings for depth, connection and a sense of purpose. The humanist in me says we all look for patterns, it’s a basic survival skill, and we all feel a need for the purpose of survival through competition and cooperation. This is all in our genetic programming. Yet, the mystic in me says there is more, there is something fantastic and incredible in this life and I want to be a part of it. Ministry is the path for me that takes me closest to that mysterious aspect of life for which I am deeply grateful. Another word for whole is complete, and that works well for me.
Blessings, Kate Walker
The source of this “call,” something I liken to a strong inner voice, was not important, and frankly never has been. But I did want at least one formal external affirmation of this call. My friends and family had all said, upon hearing my declaration, “It’s about time you realized it.” I guess I had not been listening very well.
But I wanted someone who didn’t know me to say, “Yes, you can be a UU minister.” And that someone or external affirmation was Starr King School for the Ministry in Berkeley, California. It is one of two UU seminaries, and the only seminary I applied to. I did have a choice, after all. There was a perfectly good Methodist seminary a few miles from my house. I wouldn’t even have to move. But I wanted Starr King’s affirmation. The rest of the process of becoming a UU minister had faded into the background. There was graduating, internship, hospital chaplaincy training, and the really important formal interview with the UUA’s credentialing body, the Fellowship Committee. None of that mattered. If Starr King accepted me, then I knew for sure, I was on the right path, finally!!!
I had a wandering career up to that point. At the time I was lamely pursuing a career in environmental journalism. That had been my fall-back if nothing better came along. I loved to write and cared about the environment, so that seemed a good combination. But my “call” to ministry was clear and provided a sense of wholeness for me. The day I received my acceptance letter from Starr King (I didn’t have to wait long), I did indeed feel whole. I felt like everything I had done in my life up to that point had led to this momentous decision.
Now as I experience my fourteenth year of ministry, I still feel whole. I recognize all the things I had done before becoming a minister hold equal value as my ministry, consistent with my message on March 7. I feel great every time I pull something from one of my previous incarnations (although I haven’t pulled from my talent as a parking lot attendant yet).
I can’t help but wonder at my all too human need to find meaning in my life -- from looking for patterns in my choices, to my persistent yearnings for depth, connection and a sense of purpose. The humanist in me says we all look for patterns, it’s a basic survival skill, and we all feel a need for the purpose of survival through competition and cooperation. This is all in our genetic programming. Yet, the mystic in me says there is more, there is something fantastic and incredible in this life and I want to be a part of it. Ministry is the path for me that takes me closest to that mysterious aspect of life for which I am deeply grateful. Another word for whole is complete, and that works well for me.
Blessings, Kate Walker
